NBA Playoffs 2024: Orlando Magic vs. Cleveland Cavaliers - Game 1 Highlights

The 2024 NBA playoffs officially kicked off yesterday with four games, two from the Eastern

Conference, two from the West. Today was a fun day and buckle up because we have two straight months

of this. Starting in the East, game one of the day, the four seed Cleveland Cavaliers versus the

five seed Orlando Magic. These are two teams with top seven defenses and bottom half offenses. We

new defense was going to be the name of the game in this one the magic would start jonathan isaac

in this game and play him 29 minutes the most minutes he's played not just all season but

dating all the way back since before the pandemic in 2019 i'm so happy for jonathan isaac it has

been a long road for him recovering from devastating injury after devastating injury

so to see him start and play 29 minutes in a playoff game should have made everyone very happy

But honestly, this game wasn't all that close. The Cavaliers would lead wire to wire in this one

giving up just 41 points in the first half, leading by 12. The Magic would start off the

third quarter on a 12-4 run, cutting the lead down to 4-57-37, but Donovan Mitchell would score

eight straight and the Cavaliers would lengthen that lead back out to 15 by the end of the third

quarter and the fourth quarter was pretty much a wash the Cavaliers win game one 97 to 83 we knew

defense was going to be important but I'm starting to think the key in this series is going to be

who can have the not as bad offense you can have the best defense in the world and for a large part

of this game the magic defense was doing their job but when you score 83 points it's almost never

going to matter in today's game with those 83 points the magic became just the second team since

2018 to score 83 points in the playoffs joining the 2021 brooklyn nets if they want to have a chance

in this series they have to figure it out on the offensive end they went 32.6 percent from the

the field 21% from three eight for 37 I'm still waiting on the data from synergy but according to

one of my favorite follows on Twitter Mavs draft the Magic had 20 open threes in this game and only

made five of them expect that to change three-point shooting luck is a real thing they missed 17 threes

in a row in this game as well and I assure you that's not happening again I still expect this to

be a good series it was the first playoff game for Paulo Boncario Franz Wagner Jalen Suggs shout

out to Cleveland. Donovan Mitchell had 30 points on 11 for 21 from the field. Evan Mobley was huge

16 points and 11 boards. Jarrett Allen, 16 points and 18 rebounds. Although this game was a bit of a

letdown, I'm excited for game two still. This video is brought to you by Underdog Fantasy. If

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Let's get back to the video. The second game of the day and by far my favorite

the three seed Minnesota Timberwolves versus the six seed Phoenix Suns. We all know this was the

worst matchup probably in the entire NBA for Minnesota. Phoenix has just had their number

all year, going 0-3 in the regular season versus them, and legitimately getting blown out in every

single game. It was clear from the get-go in this one that Minnesota had made serious adjustments

putting Carl Anthony Towns on Kevin Durant and Jaden McDaniels on Devin Booker. Minnesota seemed

pretty alright with Kevin Durant just getting his in this one, and I thought that was a super smart

move because how do you stop Kevin Durant's mid-range game? Nobody really can in the entire

NBA and he would prove that scoring nine points in the first quarter. Minnesota would shockingly

get up as much as 14 in this second quarter 61-47 with 54 seconds to go which is crazy because in

all three regular season meetings Phoenix would dominate that first quarter and pretty much be up

double digits all of the first half. Phoenix was doing what they've always done in the regular

season loading up on Anthony Edwards and forcing him to make the right pass and for Minnesota's

role players to beat them and it was working for Minnesota early in this game Nas Reed and

Nikhil Alexander Walker were absolutely massive off the bench heading into the second half

Minnesota was up 61-51 when the Suns would make their run quickly cutting that lead to just five

points a minute into the third quarter and even getting it to 471 267 with seven minutes to go

and then playoff Anthony Edwards decided he was just going to take over scoring 18 points total

in the quarter 14 points during this run Minnesota would extend their lead to 20 points by the end of

the quarter including these two absolutely ludicrous threes from Anthony Edwards on back-to-back

possessions. If you don't know Anthony Edwards' favorite player in the entire world is Kevin Durant

so to see him giving it to Kevin Durant right here, I promise you this clip is going to be used

for decades to come. This is just what Anthony Edwards does in the playoffs. He averaged 31

points per game in that Nuggets series last year, and even against a team that is better than anyone

at loading up and stopping him, it wasn't enough. The Timberwolves' defense also deserves a lot of

credit they did not allow a single suns field goal in the final seven minutes of that third quarter

and that was pretty much the game the wolves would also take care of business in the fourth quarter

the suns would get it maybe to as close as 16 points but they were never in any real danger

minnesota wins game one 120 to 95 i cannot tell you how massive of a win this was for minnesota

letting them know and the rest of the world that they can't adjust

This Suns team does not have their number and that they are desperate to win a playoff series for the first time since 2004

Anthony Edwards would finish with 33 points on 14 for 24 from the field

four for eight from three, nine rebounds and six assists. Jade McDaniels played some of the best defense that Devin Booker has seen all year Rudy Gobert had 14 and 16 Carl Anthony Towns had 19 points on just nine shots And then off the bench Nikhil Alexander the MVP of this game in my opinion

played 29 minutes and was plus 28, plus minus 18 points, 7 for 12 from the field, 4 for 9 from 3

and also some incredible perimeter defense. Nasrid was massive as well, 12 points on 4 for 10 from

the field plus 22. The only player for the Timberwolves that really did not have a good game

was Mike Conley. He was two for 12 from the field, 0 for 3 from 3. And I'll say it right now, I don't

think this is a Mike Conley series. Just the matchup that Phoenix presents, it's going to be

tough for him and you're going to see more Nikhil Alexander-Walker. But that's okay because that is

what the playoffs are all about. Matchups and game plans specific for certain series. Mike will have

his chance if the Timberwolves are lucky enough to advance. Here's a couple fun soundbites from

this game. I think everybody here knows that's my favorite player of all time so that was probably

one of the best fillers ever in my whole life kevin durant got his 31 points 11 for 17 from the

field but that's what the timberwolves were perfectly okay with they're okay with kevin

durant scoring 30 as long as devin booker doesn't get going as well and i love this game plan because

it is a lot more of a reasonable ask to stop devin booker than it is to stop kevin durant i promise

you phoenix will punch pack in this series this isn't over by any means but phoenix better figure

out a different game plan quickly because the Wolves proved if you load up on Ant, we have other

guys that can beat you, and Ant proved that if you load up on me, I'm still gonna go nuclear in the

third quarter. Game three of the day, again, another one of my favorite series of the first

round, the two-seed New York Knicks versus the seven-seed Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers punched

early in this one leading at the end of the first quarter 34 to 25 but the knicks would punch right

back in the second holding the 76ers to just 12 points and outscoring them 33 to 12 but the biggest

thing to happen in that quarter was that joel and bead would go down seemingly injuring his right

knee again the same knee that he has rehabbed back from a meniscus tear from january and although

this highlight is absolutely sick it made me sick to see joel and bead laying on the ground again

in the playoffs i'll be honest i thought he was done i thought he re-tore that meniscus or did

something else to that knee but he came out in the second half and played so thank god because this

series is going to be a fun one as long as joel and beat is healthy and the sixers again in the

third quarter would outscore the knicks 36 to 21 leading 82 to 79 going into the fourth quarter but

the Sixers bench unit would quickly surrender that lead. The New York Knicks win 111-104

Embiid would finish with 29 points, but he wasn't as efficient as he usually is going 8-22 from the

field However even so he still was a team high plus 14 plus minus And this is a crazy stat but in the 12 minutes that joelle and b did not play the 76ers were minus 21 the first six minutes of the second and fourth quarters

is where they lost the game philadelphia only had seven bench points and they gotta get something

from buddy healed only played 11 minutes 0 for 2 from the field tyrese maxey had a great game as

all 33 points on 14 for 26 from the field on the Knicks side Jalen Brunson also had a pretty poor

game 22 points on 26 shots but Josh Hart would step up scoring 22 points of his own that's just

the fifth time this year Josh Hart has scored 20 or more points including a dagger three that all

but sealed the game Knicks backup point guard Deuce McBride scored 21 points on 12 shots and was plus

37 plus minus in 28 minutes. He was absolutely sensational. Matter of fact, all three of the

Knicks bench players that played were sensational. They all had a plus 20 plus minus or better

Buckle up boys. This series is going to seven games. I'm telling you right now, it's going to

be a fun one. And our final game of the day, a game that honestly did not really interest me

going into it. I'm tired of hearing all of the big media narratives about the Lakers

But the Lakers would come out and throw the first punch in this one, leading at the end of the first quarter, 33-25

Denver bounces back like they always do, down 60-57 at half, but it was the third quarter in this game that would be the difference

The Nuggets would outscore LA 32-18 in that quarter and never really seize control of the game after that

They'd cut the lead to six or seven points on three straight possessions late in the fourth

quarter, but every time Denver had an answer. I really don't think this series is close. I think

the Nuggets win it in five games, but I will give LA props for punching first in that first quarter

LeBron finished with 27 points on 10 for 16 from the field, had six rebounds and eight assists

but what shocked me the most were his seven turnovers. Anthony Davis would finish with 32

points on 12 for 23 from the field and D low six for 20 from the field one for nine from three 13

points I promise you if LA wants a chance in this series they need a better D'Angelo Russell only

one player on the Lakers bench scored points Torian Prince with 11 Jokic had 32 12 and 7 Aaron Gordon

had 12 11 and 7 I think Denver is just head and shoulders better that concludes our day one recap

of the NBA playoffs. Today was amazing, especially that Anthony Edwards performance

But I'll be honest, guys, I'm not looking forward to today's slate

only because in every single game, there is a major player injured for one of the teams

Heat Celtics, Jimmy Butler's out with a MCL injury. Mavericks Clippers, it looks like Kawhi

is going to be doubtful to play in game one. Bucks Pacers, Giannis is also doubtful

with a calf injury. and then Thunder Pelicans Zion is out with a hamstring injury

It's a real shame because each one of these series would honestly be super fun if every team was healthy

Either way, we'll still enjoy it. It's playoff basketball. Thank you guys so much for watching

Check out the video I'm dropping soon on the last finals appearance for every NBA team

And as always, we'll see you on the hardwood